18th Warsaw Course on Cardiovascular Interventions

Dear Colleagues,

We have a great pleasure to invite you to the 18th Warsaw Course on Cardiovascular Interventions (WCCI), an official meeting of the Association on Cardiovascular Interventions of the Polish Cardiac Society. WCCI will take place from 9th to 11th April 2014 in Warsaw, in a INTERCONTINENTAL Hotel on 49 Emilii Plater Street.

On first and second day of WCCI an exciting event is planned: Young Practitioners Course under the auspices of the Association on Cardiovascular Interventions of the Polish Cardiac Society, European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) and Paris Course on Revascularization (PCR). The Course Director is Professor Jean Marco, Honorary Chairman of PCR. This event is especially dedicated for younger interventionalists from Central and Eastern Europe who already initiated their traing in PCI.

Registration Forms for WCCI and Young Practitioners Course will be available soon at www.wcci.pl

As a result of our continued cooperation with EAPCI and PCR, the WCCI is a regular event in the European calendar of cardiovascular interventions. The Course is also accredited by Polish Cardiac Society and EBAC.The key subjects of the conference in 2014 shall be as follows:
• Percutaneous treatment of the left main and multivessel coronary artery disease
• Percutaneous treatment of bifurcation and complex lesion
• Acute coronary syndromes
• Transcatheter aortic valve implantation
• Mitral valve therapy
• Percutaneous therapies for heart failure
• Peripheral and carotid interventions
• Renal sympathetic denervation for hypertension and collateral diseases
• Treatment of structural heart diseases
• In Cath Lab diagnostic methods: IVUS/FFR/OCT.

As WCCI program is as much practical and interactive as possible, the majority of sessions are in Learning The Technique, How Should I Treat and Case Review format. Simulator training will also be available. Also satellite symposia, presenting the new trials and devices will be a part of WCCI 2014.

Objectives:To be updated on the clinical data on the catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation for the treatment of resistant hypertension.
To understand how to select appropriate patients for catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation and how to perform the procedure.
To appreciate the potential indications of the catheter-based renal sympathetic denervation for new indications.

Professor Robert Julian Gil, MD, Ph.D., a graduate of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin has been the head of the Department of Invasive Cardiology of the Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of the Interior and Administration (MSWiA) in Warsaw, one of the most efficient centres of Interventional Cardiology in Poland since 2001. In 1997-2004 he was the Chair of the Invasive Cardiology Section (Working Group) of the Polish Cardiac Society, and a member of its Board (as a past president) for the next 3 years. Since 2001 he has been in the Expert Team handling accreditation in cardiology appointed by the Polish Minister of Health. Since 2002 he has been a Consultant of Healthcare for the Ministry of the Interior and Administration in the field of cardiology.

His scientific interests include mostly the evaluation of atherosclerotic plaque, coronary stenosis, diagnostics and treatment of complex lesions, including bifurcation lesions. He is also interested in the use of percutaneous revascularisation in acute coronary syndromes. For many years he has participated in international clinical studies evaluating medicines and devices supporting coronary angioplasty.

His achievements include over 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals, out of which more than 60 were published in foreign journals (IF close to 200). Moreover, he co-authored 30 chapters of books on interventional cardiology and more than 300 convention reports, out of which more than 100 were presented at prestigious international conventions on clinical electrophysiology and invasive cardiology. Since 2005 he has been a research fellow in the Mossakowski Medical Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. In June 2013 he was appointed as professor in that Institution.

He initiated annual National Workshops on Interventional Cardiology, which after 5 editions in Szczecin were moved to Warsaw as the Warsaw Course on Cardiovascular Interventions. Their 19th edition is planned for April 2015.

He co-authored the guidelines of the Invasive Cardiology Section of the Polish Cardiac Society concerning Invasive Cardiology.

Since 2007 he has been a member of the exclusive European Bifurcation Club handling the questions of diagnostics and treatment of bifurcation lesions.

Since 1994 he has been a scientific reviewer of monthly Kardiologia Polska, since 1998 – Folia Cardiologica (currently Cardiology Journal), and since 2000 – Polski Przegląd Kardiologiczny. In all of these magazines he is a member of Editorial Boards, and in Kardiologia Polska was the editor of column “Angiogram of the month”. Since 2009 he has regularly reviewed papers sent by to the American Journal of Cardiology, EuroIntervention, Journal of Interventional Cardiology and Circulation.

In 1999 he was appointed as the editor-in-chief of the Invasive Cardiology journal and is performing these functions up till today.

Since 1999 he has been active in the Working Group on coronary circulation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), which in September 2006 transformed into the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI). In 2009 he was assigned to its Grant Committee. In June 2000 he was awarded a prestigious title of the Fellow of European Society of Cardiology. Since 2001 he has been regularly invited to actively participate (Faculty member) in such prestigious Congresses and Workshops of Interventional Cardiology as: EuroPCR, TCT, TCT Russia, ICI in Tel Aviv, European Bifurcation Club meetings and many national congresses.